Death of Alabama inmate ruled suicide

(DeKalb County Sheriff)

Officials say an inmate who died in a fall at a state prison in north Alabama last year killed himself.

The News Courier of Athens reports the death of 23-year-old Ben Christopher McClure at Limestone prison has been ruled a suicide.

McClure was serving 23 years for murder after pleading guilty in the shooting death of Michael Arnold Johnson in DeKalb County in 2014.

Prison system spokesman Bob Horton says McClure jumped from the second tier of a prison dormitory in December. He suffered head injuries and died at a hospital.

Court records show the Rainsville man had been diagnosed with depression and anxiety around 2013. A judge ordered a mental evaluation, but the results aren’t available in the court file.

McClure pleaded guilty in January 2016.

(Associated Press, copyright 2018)

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